


Drinking Games

by v1le



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26599498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/v1le/pseuds/v1le
Summary: X is still warming up to Axl, they work well together and the threat Sigma posed was stopped once again thanks to his help. It should be fine now, but X didn't know why it was hard for himself even after the reploid proved he was a capable hunter. There were still moments that bothered the blue bomber beyond reason, he just couldn't say why exactly.
Relationships: Axl & X (Rockman)
Kudos: 21





	Drinking Games

Axl collected the carbonated oil beverages with speed that impressed the reploids that would pass him by. The young recruit had a way of making people notice his presence, it was hard not to smile when he tried to show off a stunt or made a joke in the middle of a mission. 

He was currently trying to prove he could drink an entire machine's worth of Dr. Zeffer's. It was a brand of soft drinks for reploids with a light carbonation that made them gain in popularity fairly quick despite having less nutritional benefits than standard oil supplements. What had lead to Axl placing the cans he purchased into a pyramid that took up an entire dining hall table was as followed:

“Hey Zero, you bet I can drink all 48 cans from that machine?”

“Do as you please...” Zero replied, not even looking up from his meal to face the younger hunter. 

“It's a dare then! I won't back down!” 

And so he proceeded to accept a challenge he made to himself. He didn't make much progress since then, it took some time emptying out the machine. Once he had his pyramid towering over himself, Axl sat down trying not to jitter in excitement. In the span of several minutes he managed to get through 5, already more than most of the reploids around him could admit but it's not like anyone was there to indulge him. 

That might have been why he posed the challenge to Zero at all, something of a novelty since Zero would've been anyone else's last choice. The red android seemed to respond with a cold detachment to everything for some time now, although outsiders who knew him long enough would say it wasn't as bad as when Zero had been hunting alone since the Eurasia incident. At least it seemed to have gotten a little better after Axl and X joined his hunting missions, but he was still in the realm of being unapproachable. 

Meanwhile, sitting next to Zero and equally trying not to get distracted by the new recruit's actions was X. He attempted to keep himself focused on an article about plans for a new city that Alia thought he might like. The blue android enjoyed learning about new settlements, it meant humanity was doing well in spite of the difficulties cause by the maverick wars. They were in a brief moment of peace and that in turn lead to progress. X was happily invested in his reading material until Axl shoved himself between the blue android and Zero to ask his question. 

He shouldn't have been so bothered at how quickly the new hunter seemed to imprint on them, especially Zero. X did his best to hide the annoyance that popped up when he first heard Axl insisting he should be a hunter with them because of how well he worked with Zero, but Alia pulled him aside later that day to ask why he reacted so emotionally. It was true Axl had caused a lot of damage, but he was a kid and it wasn't the first time Red Alert had gone too far. X had a hard time coming up with a reason, shrugging it off until he could sort his feelings.

'We make an awesome team!' still rung in his memory banks every so often when he saw how eager the young reploid was to join him or Zero on missions.

Maybe it was because those sentiments reminded X of his own rookie days, he thought. Even though he would describe it as a mentor relationship, back then he would follow Zero everywhere with the kind of immature eagerness that led to many snide remarks. He was by no means as loud as Axl, but he did make a few assertions of his own capabilities that could be viewed as cocky. Memories of thinking he could take on Vile and an entire unit of mavericks by himself came to mind, the moment Zero showed up to rescue him being something he'd remember up until the day he was deactivated for good.

It could be that Axl's behavior was almost like a reflection of his own naivety from those days, and it left a bad taste in his mouth that the maverick wars were still more or less in the same state despite time's passage. 

That was all X was willing to admit to himself, taking a sip from his beverage while he tried in vain to read the article. He was holding it close to his face in the hopes it would force him to focus but it wasn't working. For some reason he was less successful than the reploids around him at tuning out the young hunter, Axl was laughing especially loud when a passing navigator expressed loose concern at how much fluid he was taking into his system. 

Zero didn't know what to make of his long time friend's next actions. Maybe something from his self imposed retirement had him on edge and this was his final breaking point, causing a temporary lapse in judgment. Or momentary insanity, who knows what pretending to be an operator when you have the heart of a fighter would do to an android. Whatever it was, Zero watched with amusement when X went up to Axl with the determination of a possessed man. 

“You really think this is impressive?”

Axl looked up, more happy than anything to have X's attention. He tried to reply but instead some of the bubbling from his drinks remained caught in his throat and was released when he opened his mouth. X's face remained stoic in contrast to Axl snickering from his own burp.

The blue android grabbed one of the cans from the mountain formation Axl had set up, slamming the hand holding it onto the table while he took a seat across the younger hunter.

“You're on 5, right? I've had 2 today.”

The intense look on X's face made Axl excited. He raised an eyebrow, trying not to vibrate at the energy this was giving him. X had been acting like a bit of an old man since Axl joined, which he thought was odd. It'd be great if he could loosen up more, even better if it meant he would play with Axl when they weren't working. He was proud he managed to get his hero to come out of retirement, with enough progress he was sure he could get the android to be more relaxed. Heck, maybe that would break the rock Zero's feelings were buried under too.

“Oh? A challenger appears!”

X glared at him as his reply, opening a can then downing the beverage in one swipe. He was closing the gap, that made 3 to 5. Before Axl could get a word in X quickly grabbed another, forcing his way through the 4th drink with impressive speed. X smiles at Axl for the first time in this entire exchange after crushing the empty can on the table. 

“You give no thought to any of your plans, and that will be your own undoing.”

With only a one drink lead on X, now Axl is speeding up his process to get through the beverages before the leader of his unit. It's fun for him, he tries not to laugh in between cans but it's hard. There weren't a lot of younger reploids who would mess around with him like this.

“Don't hesitate, we're equal now.”

Dammit, Axl looked away for a second and X caught up. He was good, Axl was impressed with his hero all over again. 

“Yes sir!”

It was meant genuinely, but it aggravated X. His eyebrow twitched, he'd lost count of how many drinks he was on besides keeping a tab on the fact that he was either equal or ahead of Axl. He moved his hand quickly to grab the next beverage, his eyes widening in horror when he realized that he was reaching around an empty table.

Axl was laughing and slamming a hand on the table.

“That was great! You totally beat me, X!”

“I---I didn't---oh my god.....”

While X tried to process how many drinks he had gone through in less than 15 minutes, Zero had walked over to his side to put a hand on his shoulder. He was smiling, holding back the urge to make a snide remark to his long time partner about his immaturity. Zero hadn't seen that side of X in a while, the red android was thankful for the young hunter's presence for several reasons. The fact he could bring out X's recklessness that had been suppressed under stress and bouts of depression from fighting in the maverick wars for years was just another bonus of having the former Red Alert assassin on their side. 

Said hunter looked up at Zero with clear mischief.

“You saw that, right? He's amazing! This is the guy who beat Sigma all by himself!”

X is stammering in an attempt to compose himself, a small burp forcing itself out in the middle of it all. It's quiet for a moment before X gives in and laughs at himself, giving a free pass for Axl and Zero to laugh at him too. 

It's going to be alright, Zero thinks. At least for a little while.

**Author's Note:**

> taking a break from writing the next chapter of mhr to do this. also because im playing through x7 for the first time and x's relationship with axl has been hilarious. like seriously, zero is dead inside and x keeps nagging the kid, but considering they somehow lived through x5 and x6 i'm not that surprised those two are acting this way. axl came along at just the right time :, )


End file.
